Street Dreaming II – Paper Paulk {Album} [@PaperPaulk]

Flashback: Picture me reading The Source Magazine, thumbing through the pages until I reach the Holy Grail…the album reviews. I scan each review to see how many mics this or that Album received. Your heart races as you read your favorite rappers review because you’re hoping their album is gonna to be THE SHIT and you’re gonna to be the FIRST to cop it!!

That artist for me was Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella camp. He was one of the few rappers that rewarded you for pre-ordering his album and I did so gladly with each release! I still have some of the trinkets to this day. Now…picture me walking into an actual record store, coping my Jigga CD, getting in my truck, opening the plastic (which took FOREVER!), popping out the CD and sliding it into the CD slot with a big grin on my face. I felt like all was right with the world. I’m now reading the CD booklet from cover to cover, scanning the photos, reading the liner notes and thank yous!

All of a sudden…the beat drops and Jigga’s famous “un huhuhn” followed by his lyrical prowess and beat rides are flowing out of your speakers. His albums always dropped in the winter, but no matter the weather I was going to turn the beat up a level higher and roll the windows down so YOU would know that I copped THAT Jigga!!

Fastforward: Hip Hop Magazines are mostly digital, album reviews aren’t as anticipated and record stores are “vintage”. Your anticipation of your favorite rapper’s album is spoiled by a leaked link on the internet and you have no idea what the cover actually looks like or how it reads. You’re still excited about pulling up with the latest blasting from your ride, but it’s now hooked up to your iPod, iPhone, or Android. But if you’re like me, THAT’S your ‘Holy Grail’. Not just anyone gets added to the iPod playlist without being dope and not just anyone gets played during roadtrips!

Paper Paulk is not just anyone. He’s known as ‘THE TRUTH’! When you first hear Paper Paulk on the beat you immediately notice that his voice is different, he doesn’t sound like anyone. His lyrical content is real, rugged and raw. Paulk gives you his life on a beat that’s served with story telling, punch lines, and sincerity.

When I took that first listen to Street Dreaming II I immediately had that cold day in November flashback. Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z exchanging bars of street tales, fatherless woes, and making it for their moms. You felt every bar because you knew that shit was real. Paper Paulk is The Truth, Street Dreaming II is real and when the album drops July 1st you’re gonna roll your windows down so THEY know that YOU copped it!